The Stars In Eden's Sky
by AmyDeHP
Summary: "You have stopped the nightmares from haunting me. You have made me love myself again. You made me feel worthy of being in heaven. I'm not sure I deserved all that from you, James."


The last thing that Finnick saw before opening his eyes was the mutt's teeth, as they closed around his head, severing his neck from his body. He'd expected that… it was the price of war: His own head.

The first thing he saw after opening his eyes, however, was quite different.

The man looking at him had a perfect facial structure. As beauty was objective, Finnick always knew for a fact that there was nothing he could call a perfect face; Annie's face was beautiful to him, but maybe not to every other man. It was a strange notion coming from a man who was considered a perfect beauty, himself. But he knew for a fact that the man in front of him _did_ have the perfect face.

The man had big, golden eyes, and lashes that brushed the tops of his cheeks. His hair was like silk, if silk could ever be such a rich brown. His skin was fair, but not pale, and it looked like it was shimmering. His face had features so perfect that Finnick didn't know what vocabulary to use to describe them. He knew what some people meant when they said that gazing at someone was like gazing at the sun, now.

"Hello, Finnick." The man said in a voice similar to the songs of seagulls. It took him a second to turn on the rest of his senses.

His body felt strong, comfortable, painless, and invulnerable. The feeling was so strange; it was like if another monster, ten times stronger than the lizard mutts attacked him now, they wouldn't be able to pierce that skin. The clothes on him didn't feel like silk, probably cotton, but it was the smoothest, warmest cotton there ever was. He could feel it soothing every inch of his skin, that already felt smooth and cool.

His senses went back to the man staring at him. He didn't need to find his voice for the man to answer his unspoken question.

"The time for all the answers will come, Finnick. But first, let's escort you to your new home, shall we?"

Then the man did the strangest of things: He leaned in so close Finnick thought he was going to kiss him, then carried him in his arms and walked away with him.

"I've just called on a Pegasus. I can fly you to our destination, but it is of the laws of the realm of God that Angels shall not stretch their wings in the land or skies of Eden, unless under emergency, then they are given God's permission."

The phrase was too long for Finnick's exhausted brain, and when he finally did decipher it, it sounded like a lot of nonsense.

"Hold on a second." Finnick had expected his voice to be sore and breaking, but it was strong and soft; his regular voice. "What's all of this, and who are you?"

"Do forgive me, Finnick, even angels fail at civility, at times." The man looked honestly sorry. "I'm Gabriel, your guardian angel, and your partner's."

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

"So there's Eden, which is obviously a country."

"Yes, an infinite land of all human wishes, extends as much as your mind wishes it to."

"And I died, so I'm here."

"Exactly."

"And I have this house, this… unbelievable mansion by the sea, and a tropical paradise right behind. Not to mention I just flew to it on a Pegasus, and I own two of those in a nearby stable."

"Yes. It is yours and your partner's, the house. As for the Pegasi, yes, they're yours and your partner's, too, and they do exist, here."

"Now this partner thing, I don't understand."

"Finnick…" the angel seemed to search for a way to explain. "You have to understand… Eden is a place where time works differently. What's years in any of the ten universes, passes here as minutes. All of your friends, your family, everyone you knew is here now, and even though some of them have died decades after you. You will be able to reach them through your lap top. Once you log your name into the social network, Golden Place, it will automatically find everyone you knew in your mortal life. Also your phone here has their numbers saved. But some things have changed, however."

Finnick stared at him, wanting him to continue.

"On earth, you had an earthly match."

"Earthly match?"

"An erotic love. You know, someone you loved… that way."

"Annie."

"Yes. If you see Annie here (and you will, I reckon) you will still hold admiration for her, but not like that anymore. You have been freed off your earthly erotic feelings. A new partner awaits you now."

"Wait… what? You guys have… messed with my feelings?!"

"Not messed. In death, humans gets purged and cleared of erotic love. Only what you humans have called "Platonic" love remains. Heavenly partners love is much purer, it is deathless, it takes the place of erotic love so easily. It is a system as old and sacred as Eden itself. Your heavenly partner is a person chosen for you by God himself. A single person, from all of the histories of the ten universes. Which means gazillions of billions of people ever created. This person is chosen because they are the perfect match for you, emotionally, physically, psychologically, in every possible way. The two of you will be perfect together, and the heavenly feelings will be born from the very first instant. No quarrels will ever part you. No pains, losses or differences will ever separate you. Your love for this person will be the most sacred, deepest emotion that God has ever created."

"That's not fair! Look, what if I just want to stay with Annie? What if I don't want to be with that person?"

The angel smiled. "When you think about Annie now, how do you feel?"

Finnick silenced and thought. Annie… ever lovely and dear to him… her brown hair flying with the wind, and her green eyes gazing at him with tenderness. Now when he thought about her… he still loved her, but something was not the same. It wasn't the same way anymore. She wasn't what she was once to him. The fire of passion and longing that used to burn his veins when he thought about her was no more.

Gabriel knew what Finnick was thinking before he said it. "See? This is how things are with every mortal, Finnick. Erotic love was a lively love, one meant for death, and it died with you. Heavenly love, however, will live eternity with you and your partner."

"And where is she?"

"Not necessarily a she. Remember that heavenly love is based essentially on the suitability between two souls, and the physical desire comes next. You'll desire your partner after you fall in love with her or him, and even then the physical suitability will be perfect. Two perfectly suited souls don't necessarily have to be from opposite sexes, Finnick. As for where he or she is… on their way. Some universes have started after the others, and so he might be a little late."

"Which universe am I from?" Finnick asked suddenly and curiously.

Gabriel smiled in amusement. "Universe 10. Your partner is from 7."

"Then why am I here before her or him, shouldn't a universe numbered 7 logically start before another numbered 10?"

Gabriel laughed. "It doesn't work like that. The universes are different at things, but similar at things. For example, most of the universes have reached the same steps of civilization. And yet the minds of people in them are different."

Finnick muttered, "Universe 10 sucked, I can tell you that."

Gabriel laughed again. "I can tell. Now, you must be hungry. Or not hungry, you know, for hunger is yet another kind of physical dolor, and those have disappeared here. Let's just say you need a good meal."

"Are you going to cook for me?" Finnick had some fun time imagining this flawless creature putting on some apron and moving around with knives and spoons and forks, cutting tomatoes and meat.

"Cooking? God forbid. Let me tell you something about heaven. Kitchens here consist of menus with thousands of names of platters on them, and a shelf where the food you order from them gets delivered. Anything you want at all, just imagine it on the shelf, it'll be on the shelf. Not to mention it doesn't have to be from the menus, maybe something from your imagination."

"This is probably the best thing I've heard since I've come here." Finnick said honestly. It was even better than the fancy dishes on his Capitol visits, at least he didn't have to remind himself that children in the districts have died to plant or deliver the ingredients, and that forever silent Avoxes have cooked them.

"Not to mention that no matter how much you eat, whatever you do, you won't gain or lose weight. People here look the way their souls look; beautiful and unchangeable. Now, I can tell you what you need." Finnick usually hated it when people assumed they knew what he thought or wanted or needed, but he had a feeling the angel did know. "Human bodies do not work the same way anymore, humans here don't sweat or… you know. There's no dirt here, and you have the heavenly scent. But there are baths here, and they are designed to comfort the body and make people relax. Go to your bathroom, relax, and when you're out the food will be ready."

"Great… where is the bathroom?"

"Upstairs, second door to the right. That's your bathroom. The first door to the right is your own bedroom. It'll be a good idea to explore the house, even your partner's department, I'm sure after you get to know him or her neither of you will mind."

"Alright. And… hey… what's the heavenly scent?"

Gabriel smiled. "Your skin now is scented and flavored after your partner's favorite scent and flavor. You won't smell it, so it doesn't steal your attention from your partner's scent, when the two of you are close. In case you're curious, which I can see in your eyes… you smell and taste of blueberries and butter. Like a blueberry muffin. Not that I've tried to know, practically, how you taste, Finnick, but so I know about you."

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

When Finnick was told that the next doorbell he'll hear will be rung by his heavenly partner, he had mixed feelings. Was he really going to fall for that person from the first sight?

So far, Finnick was loving heaven. He opened his lap top and logged in to the social network apparently everyone from Eden was on, Golden Place. Finnick wondered with amusement how ancient people would deal with that, but he told himself they'd learn.

Finnick didn't want to reach his friends and family right away, he wanted to adjust to the place first, and let them adjust, as well. And he wasn't sure he was ready to watch them be in the aspect of heavenly partners before he tried it himself; he wanted to understand, to decipher what it meant, before he watched the people he knew go crazy over people they've only met days ago.

The rooms were perfect. His room was neat, with a comfortable, wide bed, a huge LCD television, and a cupboard. Its entire southern wall was made of glass, and gave view to the tropical paradise behind the mansion. Inside the room, he found another door that led to an even better room: A space of his own, where he found everything that interested him: A trident, ropes, and the better: An entire audio set and a bunch of CDs, movies and some books. He read one of them once, although he usually didn't read, and it was awesome. Finnick also found some sketches and pencils and coloring sets; what only very few people knew, was that he loved drawing. His partner's room was similar to his, but the door in it was locked with a key. He also loved his bath… a wide, marble bathtub with a really cool water system that let him have water of any temperature (he discovered in a moment of madness that boiled water felt hot on his body, but didn't burn him or damage his skin), and all the water in heaven was flower water. He had the most awesome scents of shampoos and perfumes he could ever think of, but Gabriel was right, he never got dirty no matter what he did, he simply kept going to the bath because it was perfect.

The best part of the place, however, was the ocean. It was much less salty than the ocean on earth, and he only needed to go a little deep under to find colored fish, starfish and even pearls. He took the Pegasus (and flying on it was a wonderful experience) in trips over the ocean, till he arrived to lands with icy mountains and cold paradises, but the animal always knew its way back. A very close second favorite was the food and clothes system.

Finnick discovered that if he did imagine some clothes on him, they'd be on him, and he can imagine them going to the cupboard if he wanted to wear them again, or simply disappearing if he just wanted new ones. He also discovered that there are shops, restaurants, and huge stores in Eden Town, for when you wanted to have your food and clothes outside, or when you had a lack of imagination, but no one ever paid anything there, no matter how much they took. Minor angels and fairies worked in the places, and they only helped the buyer or served the food and drinks, never expecting any payment of any kind.

That night, Finnick had just returned from the beach. He was really surprised that the weather here wasn't constantly sunny or spring-like, but it sometimes rained at night and was cold, or even in the morning. It was raining, that night. He had sat on the comfortable sofa and played a movie from Universe 8. That was when the doorbell rung.

Finnick froze. He'd been waiting for that moment, but didn't know what to do when it came. He was only feet away from meeting his mysterious partner from Universe 7. He got up, ran to a mirror to check if he looked alright. And he did, more than alright, really. He made the very simple black T shirt and pants that he wore look like designer clothes. His hand shot to his hair to straighten it a bit, then he ran to the door, telling himself that she must be freezing. He knew Gabriel said it could be a man, but he was heterosexual his entire life, why would that change now?

He braced himself, then opened the door.

If Finnick was expecting things, they were certainly not what was ringing his doorbell.

If he had expected a girl who looked like Annie and smiled at him or swooned at his beauty, he was wrong. In front of him stood a boy, and a boy who only looked stunned.

Finnick forgot to invite the boy in, and let it rain on him while he observed him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, had black hair and a fair skin. As for his features… he had feathery eye lashes, and curvy eyes, evident of an Asian heritage. His eyes… they were haunting and big, his pupils huge, only leaving very little white. His face was beautifully structured… not as perfect as Gabriel, of course, but it was beautiful enough. His cheekbones were high, his nose was small and bony, his lips were full. He was wearing a black, buttoned woolen coat and a dark blue scarf and jeans.

The boy, although still looking stunned, finally spoke.

"Hello, I'm your heavenly partner, James Carstairs. May I come in?"

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.


End file.
